Dear Marketers: What Would You Do With a 2M Advertising Budget

Dear Marketers: What Would You Do With a 2M Advertising Budget

Have any ideas about how you’d put that 2 million to use?

What if the boss said you were fired if the company didn’t make any money from whatever avenue(s) you chose?

Take a gander at this video that ETrade put out during Super Bowl XXXIV — Go Rams!

Talk about disarming your audience with humor!!!

If you didn’t laugh at the primate in the video there’s seriously something wrong with you.

*Note: I’m not sure if it’s a monkey, chimp or whatever. I do know that the furry, dancing mammalian in the video is definitely a “primate”.

On a serious note though: I really like the subtlety of the advertisement. They cleverly advertised their business by first offering some delirious entertainment, then followed with a brief plug for their business at the end. All to the tune of 2 million buckeroonys!

ETrade chose this approach over the all-too-common ploy so often used by the financial services industry: ie., preying on sadness, desperation, fear of the unknown — putting the hurt on people who’re down on their luck, at the end of their rope, and just trying to watch a football game to forget about how crappy their life is right now.

This funny “primate” commercial was rated the #4 Super Bowl commercial of all time!

The only time I respect tear-jerking advertising methods is when it’s for a good cause:

or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwhzbzZSAY

So what would you do if you had 2 million dropped on your lap just for advertising?

Could you justify making a cheap commercial with a dancing animal and a couple of old fogies, then spend the rest for  a 30 second placement on the boob tube?

Share your thoughts…

 

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